www.lasikdisaster.com
www.which.co.uk (Which? Online: Laser eye surgery) (Subscription, though you may get free access from your library).

I had PRK (not LASIK or LASEK) in my right eye only at Optimax 11 years ago, and have had problems ever since. I’ve only just come across this site, hence me only just posting.

I went in with what I think is a fairly common trust that even though you are going to a commercial organisation, that some how, because they are medical trained, that you can trust that they have your best medical interests at heart. How naïve I was!

The operation seemed to go OK, and my right eye myopia seemed cured. I was very happy! However, within a couple of months, I started having trouble reading. I was 40 at the time, and had read in the small print (though not counselled by Optimax) that correcting my short-sightedness might bring forward the time when I would need reading glasses, which they said was usually at age 45-50. I was unhappy that it happened immediately after the operation. I now believe that that they could have predicted this, had they wanted to.

This was annoying, but I wouldn’t have complained too much if my left (untreated) eye, which had been stable all my adult life, decided to deteriorate. Now my left eye became worse than my right eye had been before the correction. I have seen many eye surgeons since them and they all say ‘Oh, I’ve never heard of that before’, and ‘Once you’ve reached adulthood, your eyesight should (in the absence of illness) remain more or less constant until your mid 50’s or later”.

Worse was to come.

I started to suffer from acute pain in the eye, which would last for a few hours. Optimax gave me ointments. These episodes (which I now know as Recurrent Corneal Erosion (RCE)), have made my life hell for the last 11 years. The condition has and is deteriorating. In the last seven weeks I’ve had 3 episodes resulting in me being bedridden, in acute pain, for 7 full days, and migraines for a day or two after each episode. And you don’t get any warning. I could be getting married that day, but if I have an episode, that’s it – cancel everything for the next 2 – 3 days.

Reading the reviews of people who have successful correction, with no complications, you would think this operation is a no-brainer. Don’t be fooled. What you need to look at are ‘complication rates’. Research suggests that they are 5 – 10%. If you have two eyes done, that 10 –20% chance! And a lot of the complications that they call ‘minor’ are serious enough to mean that the person wishes they had never had the operation - like me. My RCE is considered ‘minor’ because I’m 20/20 in the eye, even though I sometimes feel I would gladly have the eye removed if that’s the only way to stop the RCE.

To go back to the matter of trust. Can you imagine what it’s like for these guys? They’ve trained for years, earning a dull but decent crust. People are in awe of their knowledge and think they wonderful. Then someone invents an operation that a good percentage of the population might consider useful to have, but can’t get on the NHS. Suddenly these people have a commercial opportunity worth a mint! Many give up remedial work for commercial work completely. Even worse, some aren’t even trained opthalmologist, or have limited training. This area is NOT regulated by the government. “Currently, any doctor employed by a refractive surgery chain can operate after a laser surgery course of just a few days.” – Which Online: Laser Eye Surgery.

If you think I’m exaggerating, you go round as a prospective patient to any of the providers and see how many offer you their ‘complication rates’ without you asking. Actually I bet it’s close to the number that are able to provide it when you ask for it – which I suspect is a nice round number – zero.

You have been warned.